U.S. Market January 16, 2001

Profit taking in short JPY positions against all the major currencies, that started during Asian trading, lasted well in to the U.S. morning, with EURJPY as the leading factor as it traded down from 111.20 to challenge the 110.00 level. It briefly broke through but later in the day bounced back to close at 110.90. USDJPY opened at 118.30 and fell as low as 117.20 before it recovered to 117.70. EURUSD ran into strong support at 0.9370 early on and steadily climbed to finish the day at 0.9420 again as traders were reinvesting in EURJPY. With the downtrend for JPY well intact, market participants are eager to test the recent highs in the main JPY crosses once again, although offers by Japanese exporters may halt further rallies for the time being. In a day that lacked any surprising news or market moving comments, GBPUSD closed at the top of today’s 1.4670 – 1.4730 range, and USDCHF slowly moved between 1.6320 and 1.6390, both currency pairs mainly driven by JPY cross trading. AUDUSD and NZDUSD traded a little bit on the defense today showing narrow ranges, 0.5535 – 0.5560 and 0.4420 – 0.4460 respectively.

www.nicorp.org